Young Bucks Tracker: Brogdon displaying shooting prowess

By Dave Heller
Published

With two-thirds of the roster born in 1990 or later, the Milwaukee Bucks are a young, growing team. Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at the players that are 25 years old and younger (for the most part, those still in their first four NBA seasons), measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.

This is the 6th edition of the 2016-17 Young Bucks Tracker.

(A glossary of the advanced statistics used for season totals, which are from basketball-reference.com. can be found at the end of this article)

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (Age 22, fourth season)

Statistical season averages: 34.5 minutes, 22.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.0 steals, 2.0 blocks, 52.4 FG%, 23.6 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 34.7 minutes, 24.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.3 blocks, 54.7 FG%, 22.2 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 26.2 PER, 59.5 percent TS%, 28.4 percent USG%, 113 ORtg, 100 DRtg, 2.2 VORP.

Notable: Antetokounmpo started out slow in the first of three games in the past week, with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers and 5 fouls against Atlanta, but he then ha 28 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists -- although 7 turnovers -- at Washington and followed that up with 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals -- and 0 turnovers -- at Toronto. In those last two games, Giannis made

 

MALCOLM BROGDON (Age 24, first season)

Statistical season averages: 21.1 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.1 blocks, 40.9 FG%, 45.1 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 23.9 minutes, 9.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.0 blocks, 43.5 FG%, 62.5 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 12.3 PER, 52.1 percent TS%, 18.0 percent USG%, 105 ORtg, 109 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.

Notable: Brogdon finished off his 23rd year by scoring 12 and 11 points against Atlanta and Washington, making 5 of 8 3-point attempts in the process. He is now 11th in the NBA in 3-point field-goal percentage and leads all rookies (min. 7 attempts). Brogdon also has made 25 of 27 free-throw attempts (92.6 percent), topping all rookies (min. 8 attempts) and is fifth in the NBA (min. 20 attempts). (By the way, Brogdon turned 24 on Sunday and then made just 1 of 6 shots on Monday at Toronto; perhaps he had too much birthday cake.)

 

THON MAKER (Age 19, first season)

Statistical season averages: 3.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.1 steals, 0.1 blocks, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 3.2 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.0 blocks, 50.0 FG%, n/a 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 25.7 PER, 63.3 percent TS%, 24.1 percent USG%, 124 ORtg, 99 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.

Notable: Maker has played eight games this season and three times has appeared in back-to-back games. Of those eight appearances, four have been in win and four in losses. His 6:25 of court time at Toronto was his second-longest stint of the season, behind only 8:47 vs. Sacramento on Nov. 5.

 

JABARI PARKER (Age 21, third season)

Statistical season averages: 32.6 minutes, 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.2 blocks, 47.0 FG%, 35.1 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 32.4 minutes, 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.0 blocks, 51.0 FG%, 46.2 3PT%.

Advanced stats: 18.6 PER, 54.4 percent TS%, 26.2 percent USG%, 109 ORtg, 108 DRtg, 0.3 VORP.

Notable: Parker sandwiched a pair of 27-point games around an 8-point clunker. He has scored 27 points in three of his last four games and 20+ in four of the last five and five of the last seven.

 

TONY SNELL (Age 25, fourth season)

Statistical season averages: 29.5 minutes, 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.1 blocks, 39.6 FG%, 28.3 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 31.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.0 blocks, 29.4 FG%, 23.1 3PT%.

Advanced stats: 7.8 PER, 51.4 percent TS%, 13.1 percent USG%, 103 ORtg, 111 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.

Notable: Snell had a season-high four assists against Toronto has secured five rebounds vs. Atlanta and the Raptors and six at Washington. That helped offset his poor shooting week, although he did make 3 of 6 shots at Toronto, including 2 of 5 3-pointers.

 

RASHAD VAUGHN (Age 20, second season)

Statistical season averages: 12.1 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.3 blocks, 38.9 FG%, 35.3 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 3.0 minutes, 0.0 points, 0.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, n/a FG%, n/a 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 9.5 PER, 50.0 percent TS%, 17.4 percent USG%, 96 ORtg, 108 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.

Notable: Vaughn played only in the Toronto game and has appeared in three games this month. He hasn't scored since Nov. 10.

 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

PER -- Player Efficiency Rating: A measure of per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15.

TS% -- True Shooting Percentage: A measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.

USG% -- Usage Percentage: An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.

ORtg -- Offensive Rating: An estimate of points produced per 100 possessions.

DRtg -- Defensive Rating: An estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.

VORP -- Value over Replacement Player: A box score estimate of the points per 100 TEAM possessions that a player contributed above a replacement-level (-2.0) player, translated to an average team and prorated to an 82-game season.

Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns